Home Categories Miscellaneous The True Face of Women's MMA (it ain't pretty)
The True Face of Women's MMA (it ain't pretty)
Written by David Anthony   
Thursday, 07 January 2010 23:09
With the Cyborg - Coenen fight coming up at the end of the month, I thought we should take a look at MMA’s female phenomenon and current Strikeforce champion, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos’, focusing on her impact on the future of women's MMA.

When Carano was scheduled to fight Cyborg, forums and websites lit-up with "Beauty vs. the Beast" analogies. While such parallels may be considered fair by popular perception, it certainly isn't very respectful towards women's MMA, nor its athletes. After all, Gina is definitely an exception and not the rule, and that's the way it should be. A bunch of dainty, sorority girls, sissy-slapping each other for three five minute rounds does nothing for the integrity of the sport.

Think about it. How irritating would it be to constantly hear MMA media pundits ragging on male fighters because they don't resemble the cast of Twilight? A silly premise, I know, but certainly a comparison that sheds light on the absurd evaluation many of us are guilty of bestowing upon female athletes.


To be a successful athlete in this sport, sacrifices need to be made. Any professional mixed martial artist recognizes that, at some point in their careers, they could (and most likely will) receive potentially permanent cosmetic damage. That’s just an accepted part of the game, one that female fighters also understand and accept. Additionally, in order to get into peak fighting shape, some of these women may need to sacrifice feminine attributes while grinding away in the gym, especially if they are going to be competing in 25-minute title fights. Why should they have to worry about the size of their breasts, or the curvature of their hips when they have a title fight on the horizon? They shouldn’t and that’s where "Cyborg" stands-out.


Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos is a physical specimen like no other currently in the sport; an intense (albeit sloppy) striker with extreme flexibility, commanding strength, and the trademark, non-stop Chute-Box pace. The only name tossed around by hardcore fans, as far as legit challengers go, is Erin Toughill – another fairly big, strong striker, but much more orthodox than the female berserker, Cyborg.

It’s shocking to me that despite her amazing physical ability and exciting style in the cage, most of the attention Cyborg draws from the fans and media focuses heavily on her looks. Is it still really shocking that a female athlete has some masculine features? Is Gina Carano really the standard of beauty in fight sports? Maybe. Is she the standard of quality? I hope not. Gina is a talented girl, but it could easily be argued that she took a padded road to the top. In fact, the first time she ever faced a semi-upper echelon opponent, was in her tilt with Cyborg. And she lost, decisively.

Ultimately, the question is "should we really even half-expect female MMA fighters to look like they could be a center-spread in Maxim?" Furthermore, is it fair for a female fighter be chastized because she actually looks like a female fighter? I believe that Santos is the future of women's MMA. Not just as an individual star, but for the message of work ethic that her body transmits to spectators and her fellow female fighters. At the end of the day, if women want to be successful and taken seriously in MMA, they will have to get into fighting shape, and that likely means no one will be mistaking them for ring girls.